Mary Miss

SUNSWICK CREEK: Reflecting Forward, 2012

Below our feet in Ravenswood a creek is buried. Once a natural system it now flows through a series of pipes that catch the street runoff through storm drains after a rain. Can the historic ecology help give insight into future development scenarios in the area? Or suggest how a natural ecology can be bolstered if integrated into development?
A corridor of embedded mirrors, banded poles and speech bubbles provides cues for tracing the path of Sunswick Creek. By 'tagging' this stream's former location from its origins at 16 Oaks Park to the mouth at Socrates Sculpture Park a glimpse of the original character of this place is given while providing an insight into how the natural system has continued to shape this part of New York City.
Following the markers that can be glimpsed one to the next, a visitor finds intermittent stations with a number to be dialed to hear a description of the area as a place of constant regeneration. There is also the opportunity to respond to queries about the area and add the visitors' own insights.
Waterways are systems of maintenance and renewal. Over time we imagine this corridor becoming more physically apparent: wheeled planter carts suggest moving markers and plants out to signify the former the original corridor; the insights of residents and visitors will accumulate to reveal the continued richness and potential of the stream's path.
Audio component: (212) 457-9029